Sydney Australia

A renowned sailor was carried off his boat on a stretcher and a boat that almost sank en route wound up winning the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race at Sydney, Australia on Tuesday. Six of the eight boats finished the 6,550-nautical mile ordeal at Sydney's landmark Opera House on 24 days after having left Cape Town, South Africa.

Here's a chance to lock in an airfare to Sydney, Australia, in the face of rising fuel costs, which often mean rising airfares: From LAX, Air New Zealand is offering a round-trip fare to Sydney, Australia, for $1,290, which includes all taxes and fees. In March, Sydney was the host of the opening of the Dodgers 2014 season. Two games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground . It was the first time Major League Baseball has begun its schedule in Australia, but not the first time an American team has played there.

It sounded like a routine Irvine High School marching band practice, but it was the final rehearsal for an Olympic performance that was nearly scrubbed. And the weight of what was to come showed Monday in the worried faces and murmurs of performers. "That was it, our last practice here," they seemed to say. "The next time we play, we'll be in Australia, and then, like, 4 billion people are gonna watch us. I have to PACK!"

Zanerobe, the University of Sport, brings beachy Australian style to these shores this year with a sportswear collection for men, women and children based on weekend basics such as T-shirts, tanks and boardshorts. In 2002, Jonathan "Jono" Yeo, 35, and Leith Testoni, 33, founded Sydney-based Zanerobe after wagering over beers that they could make a shirt better than a "hideous" striped button-down that some guy paraded in front of them at a neighborhood pub. Yeo and Testoni named their fledgling collection Zanerobe, a combination of the name Zane – a nickname Testoni wished he had – and "robe" from " garde-robe ," which is French for wardrobe.

A lot of cities have traffic helicopters, but there are none in the world quite like the Italian-made Agusta that can be seen hovering over the winding streets of downtown Sydney. When traffic starts backing up on any street in this sprawling metropolis, the traffic controller on board the helicopter doesn't just report it. With the flick of a finger, the controller can change the light on any traffic signal in the city--almost before the first horn is sounded.

* Dates: Sept. 15-Oct. 1, 2000. * Tickets: The Sydney Organizing Committee received 317,000 ticket applications, 6,000 more than the previous record set by Atlanta four years ago. The average application for the 2000 Games was for eight to 10 tickets with the total worth estimated at $227.5 million. Australians have an option on 5 million of the 9.6 million tickets, with 750,000 available overseas and the rest going to sponsors, media and Olympic officials.

The start of the Summer Olympics in Australia has recast the spotlight on biotech giant Amgen Inc., the discoverer, producer and licenser of what has become one of the most abused sports-performance drugs in history: Epogen. In the 11-year history of Epogen--the brand name for a drug that mimics the natural hormone known as erythropoietin (EPO)--Thousand Oaks-based Amgen has faced sporadic complaints over its refusal to make the drug traceable through drug testing.

One mascot was not enough for the organizers of the Sydney Olympics, who chose three. Each cuddly creation has been charged with a specific Olympic duty. The uniquely Australian creatures are: * Syd--A duckbill platypus, a rare egg-laying mammal with the bill of a duck, the body of an otter and the tail of a beaver. Syd, who is named after the host city, will represent the athletes and communicate the Games' environmental policy.

Proudly carrying the Olympic flame, Rafer Johnson climbed 99 steps to the top of the Coliseum, stood still momentarily for the whole world to see, then ignited a fuse that set ablaze five Olympic rings and the torch, launching the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Johnson's children, Jenny, then 11, and Josh, then 9, were mesmerized by the pageantry and elegance of the celebration.

Two men posing as technicians stole computers that may have contained confidential files and top-secret information from Sydney Airport in Australia, a newspaper reported. Federal police confirmed that they were investigating the theft of computer equipment from the airport's customs-processing and intelligence center but gave no other details.

Dominique Dawes, Kristen Maloney, Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert found out they were Olympic bronze medalists Wednesday. The award is 10 years late and bittersweet for the members of the U.S. women's 2000 Olympic gymnastics team that finished fourth overall and left Sydney, Australia, without a single medal — team or individual. On Wednesday, China was stripped of its team bronze by the International Olympic Committee because of evidence presented to the IOC that one Chinese gymnast, Dong Fangxiao, was only 14 at the time.

Two men posing as technicians stole computers that may have contained confidential files and top-secret information from Sydney Airport in Australia, a newspaper reported. Federal police confirmed that they were investigating the theft of computer equipment from the airport's customs-processing and intelligence center but gave no other details.

A renowned sailor was carried off his boat on a stretcher and a boat that almost sank en route wound up winning the second leg of the Volvo Ocean Race at Sydney, Australia on Tuesday. Six of the eight boats finished the 6,550-nautical mile ordeal at Sydney's landmark Opera House on 24 days after having left Cape Town, South Africa.

The start of the Summer Olympics in Australia has recast the spotlight on biotech giant Amgen Inc., the discoverer, producer and licenser of what has become one of the most abused sports-performance drugs in history: Epogen. In the 11-year history of Epogen--the brand name for a drug that mimics the natural hormone known as erythropoietin (EPO)--Thousand Oaks-based Amgen has faced sporadic complaints over its refusal to make the drug traceable through drug testing.

Sydney is 18 hours ahead of Pacific Daylight Time, meaning it will be midday in Australia when The Times goes to press daily. The Times, with a staff of 16 in Sydney, will be uniquely positioned to report on many events on a same-day basis--and often ahead of those events appearing on television. NBC, which owns U.S. broadcast rights, has decided to show all events on tape delay over its network and cable affiliates. Live coverage on the Canadian Broadcast Co.

For nearly two years, the International Olympic Committee, dogged by the worst corruption scandal in its history, has pointed to the start of the 2000 Summer Games as its opportunity for redemption--a chance to move the world away from allegations of bribery to the grace and beauty of athletic competition.

License Granted for Casino: A consortium made up of Australian construction and engineering group Leighton Properties Ltd. and U.S. casino group Showboat Inc. has won a hotly contested bid for Sydney's first casino license, beating out a consortium of companies associated with Australian financier Kerry Packer and Las Vegas-based casino operator Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. The winning consortium plans to build a casino overlooking Sydney Harbor to start operations in late 1997.

In uncanny timing, the Olympic flame at Nagano was extinguished during the closing ceremony this week, moments before international interest in the Games flickered out. It's standard. By late in the second week of an Olympic Games, it's usually a race to see which will burn out first, the majestic flame or bleary-eyed television viewers. So, rest up, only 2 1/2 years to go before the flame is lit again in a raised caldron to mark to opening of the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympic Games.

It sounded like a routine Irvine High School marching band practice, but it was the final rehearsal for an Olympic performance that was nearly scrubbed. And the weight of what was to come showed Monday in the worried faces and murmurs of performers. "That was it, our last practice here," they seemed to say. "The next time we play, we'll be in Australia, and then, like, 4 billion people are gonna watch us. I have to PACK!"

Proudly carrying the Olympic flame, Rafer Johnson climbed 99 steps to the top of the Coliseum, stood still momentarily for the whole world to see, then ignited a fuse that set ablaze five Olympic rings and the torch, launching the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles. Johnson's children, Jenny, then 11, and Josh, then 9, were mesmerized by the pageantry and elegance of the celebration.